The Mummy: An Enemy Within
by rpvee
Summary: In Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Rick O'Connell is nearly killed by the Emperor. However, as Rick's soul began to enter the Underworld, the cursed soul of Imhotep saw his chance. Rick went back to the mortal world and his body - with Imhotep hidden within.
1. The Beginning

1946 - Egyptian Underworld

Silent spirits walked in darkness, as they had since the beginning of time. In this world, there was no purpose, only eternal torment, for this part of the Underworld was for those cursed to nothingness forever. As a part of these souls' punishment, above in the darkness was the portal from which just deceased souls entered from the mortal world to the Underworld, and went beyond for judgment from the gods, a soul with the chance of being free, as opposed to these souls' torture.

Meanwhile, above, in the mortal world itself, a man known as Richard O'Connell fought an undead Chinese Emperor with his family and a mysterious young woman, atop freezing snowy hills. The son of Rick and his wife, Evelyn, called Alex, held a pack of dynamite - this was it, he would kill the emperor with an avalanche. He spun the dynamite in his hand, was about to throw it - when the Emperor himself threw a sword at his back. Rick was the only one who saw it coming, and knew there was only one way to stop it.

He pushed his son out of the way, and took the blow through the chest himself. On the edge of death, he fell to the ground.

The portal in the Underworld opened - a soul was about to pass through. The spirit of Rick came through, and one of the cursed souls sensed it... sensed Rick's presense, a feeling of hate... of revenge... and this cursed soul woke from its walking trance. The ancient High Priest of Pharaoh Seti the First, the forever-doomed Imhotep, looked up, and saw O'Connell's spirit hovering above, not sure whether it was to stay in the Underworld, or to go back, should his family save him.

In the mortal world, a soft cloth was pressed upon the wound on Rick's body, dampened with water that promised healing and immortality. The wound sealed.

In the Underworld, Rick's spirit flew back into the portal, and Imhotep realized what was happening. He had freed himself in hate, and saw his chance.

Rick saw his body getting closer.

Imhotep took action.

He jumped and took flight into the portal, grabbing Rick.

Both entered the man's body.


	2. Trapped

Rick O'Connell opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Evelyn, his dear, precious Evie, looking back at him with relief. He felt normal, his mind was clear, and the last thing he remembered was the pain of a sword, and the cold of snow. But now he was comfortable and warm, in the care of his loved ones.

Imhotep saw Evie, too. He could feel her hand against his cheek, and for some reason, he could feel a sense of _love_ for her.

_What...?_ Imhotep began to think. He recognized this woman, she was the one who he had once thought was Anck-su-Namun, the one who had first brought him back from the dead... the one who was one of his worst rivals. He tried to reach out to strangle her, but instead, from his mouth, came words.

"If this is Heaven, it looks pretty good so far." Came the voice of the woman's partner - gibberish to Imhotep audibly, but mentally, he understood it. The woman leaned closer for a kiss, and unwillingly, Imhotep leaned towards her. Where was his control?

"Nice to see some things never change." Said a voice with a touch of humor. Something made Imhotep turn to face the one who had spoken. It was a young man, and there was something distinctly familiar about him. A thought forced its way into Imhotep - _recognition_, from another mind.

-

Rick turned to see who had spoken. He saw that it was Alex - his son had survived, too. Suddenly, for only a second, an image flashed before Rick's eyes - he was in an Egyptian temple covered in daylight, his arm stretched out before him, covered in a long black sleeve, his hand in a black glove... and before him, floating in mid-air, was Alex as a young boy, looking terrified. Rick felt hate and disgust flow throw him in this second, and recognition of _another_ kind, before it all vanished as quickly as it had come.

Rick smiled, sitting up, love for his family setting in once again. He looked down to where the blade had stuck through from his back to his abdomen. There was no injury whatsoever.

-

Imhotep was suddenly sitting up. He now knew that the young man was the son of the enemy who had put him down once before. He remembered the young man as a boy, when he had caught the child running away from the train that held him captive. Imhotep now felt himself forced to look down at his body, and... _it wasn't his_.

The events in the Underworld flooded back to Imhotep, and the Priest realized that he was trapped, helplessly, in the body of his own worst enemy, and was also forced to feel the man's emotions and physical interactions, had no choice but to hear his thoughts. And with this realization, a name came to Imhotep's trapped consciousness: Rick O'Connell.

Not a name.

_The_ name.

Imhotep finally knew the name of his enemy.

Rick's wife walked over to him, handed him a jacket, and Imhotep suddenly knew _her _name, too - Evelyn.

_ Hardly as elegant as Anck-su-Namun._ Thought Imhotep. He felt an emotional pain at the thought of the name. All these years later, and he had never understood why Anck-su-Namun left him to die at the Scorpion King's pyramid.

"Go easy on him, he feels terrible." Evie said to Rick. A sense of sadness came to Imhotep from Rick - if he could feel Rick's emotions, why couldn't Rick feel his? And yet Imhotep suddenly saw promise in this situation. If he could find some way to manipulate Rick's thoughts, a way to _control_ him... then perhaps Imhotep could not only have his revenge on this man's family, but either make a new body or get one as well - Rick's.

Rick walked over to Alex, and as the two began to talk, Imhotep felt at ease, not from Rick, but from his own soul embedded in Rick's. No matter what it took, this body would be used to remake his own... or it would _become _his.


End file.
